The Missouri Reader Vol. 36, Issue 1 | Page 19

prefer to read books with females as the main
characters, girls are more flexible in that
requirement. Girls will read books even if the
main characters are male, but generally, boys will
resist reading books with female main characters
(Lesesne, 2006). Also, reading achievement
scores differ greatly among boys and girls. There
is a difference of about 10 percentage points in
reading achievement scores between boys and
girls (NCES, 2001). According to Pirie (2002),
the gap in reading achievement could be closed if
boys were motivated by the proper mix of
support and expectation.
Research also has shown that membership in an
ethnic group does not, by itself, relate to reading
attitudes. A study by McKenna, Kear, and
Ellsworth (1995) found no difference in attitude
toward reading by African-American, Hispanic,
and White students. McKenna (2001) noted that
membership in smaller social units such as
families, classrooms, gangs, clubs, friendships,
etc. are more influential on reading attitude than
mere membership in an ethnic group. Further, a
student‘s reading ability, age, gender, and home
reading environment are better predictors of
reading attitude than ethnicity (McKenna, 2001).
While ethnicity does not, by itself, predict
attitudes toward reading, there are groups of
adolescents who tend to resist reading. For
example, African-American males often view
reading as something that has no immediate
purpose or function. As a result, many AfricanAmerican high school graduates read at the same
level as, or below, White middle school students
(Tatum, 2005). This leads many to believe that
African-American adolescent males lack the
ability to handle intellectually challenging work.
On the contrary, African-American adolescent
males are as capable as adolescents from other
ethnicities and excel at reading when motivated

to do so. Alpert (1991) found that AfricanAmerican males were motivated to read when
they like the content of the material. Tatum
(2005) noted that African-American adolescent
males are motivated when reading materials are
authentic; related to their lives; and focused on
cultural, social, and emotional development;
acknowledge their ethnicity and gender; and help
them identify what they want their future to look
like.

Factors Affecting Reading
Motivation
Early research on motivation characterized it
as a one-dimensional quality. More motivation
was better and less motivation was worse for the
learning and performing of tasks. According to
this view, motivation is a temporary, task-specific
source for activities, including reading. However,
more recent research has shown that motivation
is multifaceted. Reading motivation is defined as
an individual‘s personal goals, values, and beliefs
with regard to the topics, processes, and
outcomes of reading (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000).
Included within this are intrinsic and extrinsic
motivation (Guthrie & Wigfield, 2000; Pressley,
2002). Both of these factors play a significant role
in the reading motivation of students.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation
There are two types of motivation – intrinsic
and extrinsic. According to Guthrie & Wigfield
(2000), intrinsic motivation for reading is an
individual‘s enjoyment of reading activities that
are performed for their own sake during free
time. According to Pressley (2002), enjoying
challenging reading, being curious about reading,
and valuing the importance of reading are
characteristics of intrinsically motivated readers.
©The Missouri Reader, 36 (1) p. 19